T-DOT will help reconfigure the intersection of Main Street and Chancery Street in McMinnville to improve traffic flow and safety for large vehicles.
Public Works Director Lyndon Bussell said the project addresses a current lane configuration. Bussell said the adjustment aims to prevent accidents and collisions.
“The left lane actually has to go a little right and into the other lane to go straight and the right lane is only a turn lane,” Bussell said. “So commonly what happens is people that are in the only turn lane will go straight and the people in the straight lane that need to do a lane shift… they’ll interact negatively.”
Bussell said T-DOT proposed the change after observing recurring problems at the intersection over several years. Bussell said the left-most lane currently used for the northbound shift will be converted into an oncoming lane to provide a larger turn radius for trailers.
“We feel very strongly that this will correct those and help where you’re not getting cars stuck out there or trailers stuck out there, blocking traffic where we have to provide resources to shut down the intersections around the area and revert the traffic and stuff like that,” Bussell said.
Bussell said the difficulty of the current turn was highlighted recently when a trailer transporting large hay bales got hung up, blocking the intersection. Bussell said the new layout will make the downtown area more intuitive for tourists who may be unfamiliar with the one-way streets.
“It’s pretty much helping people turning from Main Street onto Chancery Street; if you’ve got a big trailer, it helps you create a larger turn radius to get on there, to reduce accidents that happen there,” Bussell said.
Bussell said the reconfiguration will eliminate the need for a lane shift by creating a single lane for both straight travel and right turns. Bussell said the change will also protect the bells installed at the intersection to assist pedestrians.
“I think for even out-of-town drivers, it’s going to help,” Bussell said. “With tourism and things along that nature, it’ll be more intuitive for them to traverse downtown because a lot of it’s one-way. So I think you’ll get less people getting confused on how to get to where they need to go.”
Bussell said T-DOT expects to complete the project in a single day by the end of June or in July with minimal delays for residents.
